The Law Plus Guidelines are the cornerstone of FFLGuard’s Basic Services. The Guidelines are a two-page “tip sheet” representing a series of helpful hints, legal precedent, professional advice, and proven experience dealing with issues between ATF, anti-gun groups, various entities within the firearms industry, and/or other Participants in the Program. The Guidelines represent business practices and internal controls that deliver “above and beyond” what is required by law. Each Guideline is assessed a point value, with a Grand Total of 100 points available, and so long as the Participant meets a 90% threshold of total points, that Participant qualifies for certain legal services without additional payment of Legal Defense Fees. Failure to comply with the Guidelines does not preclude the Participant’s access to legal services from FFLGuard Attorneys at a rate equal to 1/3 less than the FFLGuard Attorney’s normal and customary rate. Time is set aside to video conference with the National Coordinating Counsel to discuss the client’s implementation of the LPG’s, with an end result of assuring that each Program participant is in “good standing” by anyone who might be sitting in judgment, whether by ATF, in a court of law or public opinion.
By complying with no less than 90% of the LPG’s, each client is afforded certain legal services at no additional cost that include: (1) in the case of a BATF audit, an FFLGuard professional will be assigned to oversee the process, interface with the BATF, and contrast your audit to others around the country, in an effort to insure the integrity of the process and keep each client out of harm’s way; (2) if a client is named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit designed to call its business practices into question, FFLGuard-approved counsel will defend you (subject to certain hourly ceilings).
The total cost of the yearly FFLGuard participation fee also assures that any client needing legal service — outside those services provided at no additional cost by complying with the LPG’s — is discounted. No counsel working with the Program delivers legal services to FFLGuard clients at less than a 1/3 discount from their normal and customary rate. Program participants can also attend annual seminars conducted by FFLGuard attorneys, or pay for Additional Services by FFLGuard counsel (at the FFLGuard discounted rate, of course) to reduce its LPG compliance threshold from 90%, thereby entitling the client to access the no additional cost services detailed above with greater ease.
And, at the end of the day, even if the client does not follow the LPG’s to a compliance rate agreeable to the Group, all Program participants are always offered cost-effective representation by FFLGuard firearms-specific counsel: your participation fee alone entitles you to access FFLGuard approved counsel at a rate reduced by 1/3 of counsel’s normal and customary rate… no matter what.
